The Travelers, part 6

"The passageways?" Taylor asked.
"Quick," Thoren said, "No time to explain."
He grabbed her hand and began to run. Then, he turned quickly to the right. Taylor nearly stumbled over her own feet as she was pulled along, over the unsteady ground. After about five minutes, Taylor's legs began to wobble and she was breathing so hard that she couldn't speak. Thoren stopped short next to a large, flat rock.
"Sit here for a moment; catch your breath," He said.
Taylor nodded and sank onto the dew-drenched ground. She pulled her arms around herself. The sun was just beginning to appear in the sky. A flock of geese flew in front of it, their silhouettes casting dark shadows onto the orange and yellow backdrop. Then Taylor was being pulled to her feet again. When she looked at where the flat rock had been, she saw it had been pulled aside, revealing a dark, roughly circular entryway.
"Is that...?" Taylor breathed.
Thoren nodded. "The passageways. This is one of the entrances. Come on."
He helped her up and the two of them climbed carefully down into the hole. Thoren went first. As Taylor made her way down the entrance, using the flat rocks that had been placed there for foot- and hand-holds, she smelled the earthy dampness of the tunnel. The air became colder as she descended.
"Careful when you get down," Thoren called. His voice echoed off the damp stone. "The last step is about one foot from the ground."
Taylor climbed for about ten minutes before she found the gap Thoren had mentioned, and stepped off. She nearly fell backwards as she hit the ground, but Thoren grabbed her arm.
"Thanks," Taylor said.
Thoren lit a match. The light bounced off the cave walls. Thoren stepped forward, taking a torch from a ledge on the opposite wall. Once he had lit the torch, the passageway was illuminated enough to see that there were three different passages ahead of them. One took off in a straight line, but after a few feet, Taylor could tell, it dipped suddenly and steeply. One went off, at a slight angle, to the left of the first passage, and then went around a tight curve, even further to the left. The last passage, at the right of the first, went off at right angle to it and was sloped steeply upwards. Thoren nodded toward the first passage.
"That's the one we need to follow."
He lit another torch and handed it to her. "Stay close behind me."
Taylor nodded and they began to make their way down the first passage. After only a few seconds, the passage sloped downwards, and the moving was very slow-going. It was so steep that they had to be extremely cautious in climbing down. Something fluttered close by Taylor's ear. She jumped slightly, nearly hitting her head on the low ceiling.
"What was that? A bat?" Taylor asked.
"Most likely," Thoren replied.
The two were quite for a long time, concentrating only on keeping together, and trying to keep their feet from slipping out from under them. Finally, Thoren spoke.
"They probably won't hurt your friend."
Tyalor felt a rush of relief. "Really?"
Thoren shook his head. "Not unless he says something that incriminates him."
"What do you mean?" Taylor said.
"I've already said too much," Thoren replied, "but, there is a chance Frank is the person they're looking for. If so, he is in great danger."
'The Travelers', Copyright 2012, by Katy Allie. All rights reserved.